One of the beauties and challenges of our inherited liturgy is that it is very wordy. There are so many jewels and gems - what can we notice when we soften our gaze and let the words speak to us? This line, this jewel, jumped out at me as I was preparing for a prayer gathering right before the High Holidays. I was called to flip the line on its head. We seek mercy and answers. Our voice calls out. We desire to be heard. Which comes first? Where is the point of origin? What is the hierarchy here? Every time we encounter the liturgy, the experience is different because we are different. Can we use the psalm as a vessel for our own prayers?
Note: Havayah is a nickname for g?d flipping around the letters in g?d’s “proper” Hebrew name, yud-hey-vav-hey, that keeps the same root (being, was/is/will be) and is able to be vocalized.
lyrics
שְׁמַע־הֲוָיָה קוֹלִי אֶקְרָא וְחָנֵּנִי וַעֲנֵנִי׃
shema havayah. koli ekra. v’choneini. va’aneini.
for answers, for mercy, my voice calls out to the sum-of-all-things
Text from Psalm 27
credits
from ORAH HI,
released August 31, 2023
Sponsored by Beth Sholom Synagogue in Memphis, TN. Thank you!
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